Test Kitchen Recipe: Farfalle with Eggplant Cream Sauce

It happened again: I had 5 eggplants sitting on the counter begging to be eaten. I had impulsively bought all that was left in the last five minutes of the farmer's market. The eggplants were beautiful: shiny, small, but heavy. Firm, but not hard. Perfect. Then the indecision of how to use them overcame me, and they have sat on my counter ever since, whispering "Eat me! Eat me!" every time I walked past. I've already written about eggplants a couple of times (here and here) and I've made several eggplant dishes this summer. In fact, I've probably eaten more eggplant in the last three months than I have in my entire life. Plus, I've got 8 pretty purple fruits ripening in my own garden bed. I know I'm going to make the roasted eggplant spread again this summer, but today, I wanted to try something different. In my head, I thought up a luscious-sounding recipe: farfalle pasta tossed in an creamy eggplant sauce. My inspiration was a twist on an artichoke sauce I had at Mimi's Cafe. I carefully thought out my ingredient list, and this afternoon, I set to work. Here's what I came up with. It was by no means perfect, but there was enough promise that I'm going to try again. It will, however, need some major tweaking. Here's the recipe (tweaks in red):

Farfalle with Eggplant Cream Sauce

5 small eggplant, sweated and cubed (that ended up being a lot; probably 2 medium, or 3 small is enough. Needs to sweat longer than 30 minutes, more than one bite ended up being bitter. Should peel it next time, although color will be missed)
1 large tomato, diced (needed more. Probably at least 2)
3 cloves garlic, minced (try roasting garlic first)

1 handful spinach (spinach was too bitter; try fresh basil leaves)
3 TBSP butter
1/2 onion, diced (try a sweeter onion, like a red onion or vidalia variety. Needs the whole thing)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated pecorino romano (needed more, but I ran out)

1 tsp basil (wasn't enough. Eliminate dried basil if using fresh, above)

fresh ground pepper to taste
1 tsp sea salt (needed more)
1 package farfalle (or preferred pasta shape), cooked according to package instructions


In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat. Sautee onion until tender, add garlic. Sautee 1 minute more, then add the eggplant. Sautee until soft. Add the tomato. Sautee until soft. Add cream. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add dried basil, salt, and pepper (eliminate dried basil if using fresh. Add fresh basil in place of spinach). Let simmer 15 minutes. Stir in spinach, continue stirring until it is just wilted. Add pecorino romano. Pour over cooked pasta. Toss. Serve immediately.

The Result
Not my favorite result, but there is promise. The eggplant ended up being bitter, which might be because it was a few days old. If I had used it the day I bought it, I think it would have been better (eggplant really does not save well, and should be used ASAP). I plan to try it with the adjustments in red and see if it turns out better. Also, mine ended up being under-seasoned, which is really rare for me. Usually I am very freer with spices. I think if I get those things fixed, this could be one of those dishes where you lick the bowl at the end. I served it with a hearty French bread, which was perfect. This was a very rustic sauce, and it takes a hearty bread to hold up to it! I thought a great addition might be roasted red bell peppers instead of tomatoes, to add some extra sweetness to the sauce. And I think the addition of mushrooms (maybe crimini mushrooms?) would lend itself well to the rustic nature of the dish.